Narrative Lectionary Links

Comment: The Jewish Christians weren’t sure the Gentile Christians belonged in the community if they were unwilling to adopt Jewish practices, such as circumcision. In his commentary upon this text, pastor Michael Danner highlights the questions: “Who is ‘Gentile’ to my ‘Jew’ [and] can we accept that in accepting Jesus we are called to accept all those that Jesus accepts?” The story of the two Bobs beautifully illustrates these struggles of acceptance. Big Bob embodies societal gender expectations while little Bob is anything but a stereotypical boy. Pairing their story and eventual acceptance of one another alongside Paul’s encouragement for acceptance in Galatians challenges us to consider whether we turn away or accept those who are different from us.